A Day In The Life Of Raising Twins and a Singleton (and keeping sane along the way!): 4th of July, Grants Farm, and pregnancy updates!

Hello everyone! We celebrated our third July as a family with kids in tow. We celebrated with friends from our twin playgroup. Even though it rained, the girls still had fun and we had a great time! Good food, good conversation, and good friends make for a fabulous celebration! We then ventured to watch the fireworks at the Civic Center and warned the girls it would be loud but there would be pretty colors in the sky. We thought it might be a toss up between cries of terror and excitement filled cheers. We were fortunate it was the latter. Cameryn would say, "That's a big one!" They both said their oooohs and ahhhs as they heard from others around us. They enjoyed naming the colors as they saw them. It was a late night but worth it!

We also got some great news about my mom. Her cancer is officially in remission. She will get scans every 3 months and possibly get what they call preventative brain radiation. The only problem with that is..is that it can cause paranoia and loss of brain function and memory which from her brain surgeries in the past she already lost quite a big of brain function and memory. It is her decision, so we will have to wait to see what she decides.

I am 10 weeks and 3 days pregnant today and saw my ob today and got to see the baby growing on the u/s machine. A heart rate of 160 was so nice to hear. I still have a very strong feeling it's a boy. I am feeling pretty good, although fatigued and experiencing some nausea but nothing compared to when I was pregnant with the twins. I am definitely showing already, which is crazy to me. My ob said it's totally normal with a second pregnancy and also since having twins essentially destroyed my stomach muscles. I have two hospitals who have okay ed my waterbirth and still waiting on a third hospital. I am in the process of interviewing doulas right now, which I think is going to be a tough decision. Jeff and I are in debate over circumcision (if we have a boy). I am totally against it and Jeff has not made up his mind about it. Our pediatrician is 100% against it because there are no real medical benefits to having it done and says that only 59% of boys are having it done in this region so peer teasing should not be a problem. I think it's brutal and it's genital mutilation. We would never do this do a girl because other girls have it done and so we should not do this to boys. Would you chop off a finger because everyone else is? I have also researched that while boys don't remember it later in life but the pain is actually greater than having it done as a child/teen/adult because their central nervous systems are not fully developed yet. I have also read that after the procedure when they "sleep" they are actually in shock and shut down. Jeff and I watched one done on a video and the baby's scream was like no other that I heard. It was heart wrenching and made me sick to my stomach. And lastly, I don't feel like I should be making that decision for someone else. If he wants it done later in life, it's his decision. To me, God made every single detail of our bodies for a reason and a purpose and who I am to change what God made perfect. I know this may be against what you believe to be true, but I wanted to make my official statement on this. It is my hope that if you are pregnant you will research any procedure and educate yourself on all aspects and make an informed decision. Now...on to the pictures! There are many since this is nearing the end of July. Enjoy!